Kunhardt Productions: Producers of "The American President" Series
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As the millennium approaches, Americans have become highly uncertain about our institutions, and about what, in particular, we want our presidents to be. One reason for this may be that we have lost sight of the many things the presidency has been over the course of our history. This series — the first to treat all 41 presidents — will look at the multi-faceted character of a truly American office, through the stories of the individuals who have held it.
Their stories will be juxtaposed thematically instead of chronologically, allowing presidents from different eras to be compared and contrasted. For when lesser known figures are enlisted alongside more familiar ones, we suddenly appreciate their experiences in a new way.
Aided by Yale University's Stephen Skowronek, we spent the first months of the project testing out
overarching categories in which to group the presidents. When we finally agreed upon a configuration we were all happy with, it became the intellectual framework for this series. It allows us to make quite
fascinating juxtapositions, for example Thomas Jefferson with Ronald Reagan, John 
Adams with Jimmy
Carter, James Monroe with George Bush, James Madison with Bill Clinton. And it allows us to look at the most familiar presidents in less familiar ways.
Abraham Lincoln as an example of the professional politician, FDR for his family ties, Harry Truman for his unexpected elevation to the high office.
Each episode concludes with a profile of a president speaking in his actual recorded voice, including several through an original interview conducted by our series' narrator, presidential journalist Hugh Sidey (pictured right with LBJ).
Another important alliance that was formed as the
project unfolded was with Harvard scholar Richard Neustadt (pictured left). Our decision to ask Dick to share his unique perspective as the on-camera commentator for each program has ended up deeply shaping the series.
Besides the research that has gone into the creation of our ten scripts, we have made a massive effort to collect a pictorial record of the presidents. Building on the strengths of our own private archive, the Meserve-Kunhardt Collection, we have gathered thousands of stunning images and thousands of feet of rare newsreel footage. And at dozens of presidential home sites across the country, we have filmed extensively on location.
Our goal for the series is to help viewers see the presidency afresh, and to think about its incumbents in a new way. If some are inspired to a deeper level of citizenship, it will be a tribute to the public service of the presidents we are profiling. By looking at the variety of individuals who have held the high office and by contrasting their situations and their major choices in the presidency, we hope to tell what is an extremely human story, as well as an unfolding history of a vital American institution.
An Interview with Peter and Philip III:
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